I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to poultry feeders and accessories. More particularly, the present invention relates to a poultry feeder restraint that is inserted into a bird's beak to prevent the bird from overeating. Known relevant prior art devices are classified in U.S. Class 119, subclasses 97, 713 and 175.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In conventional poultry laying operations, male birds or roosters represent between ten to twenty percent of the total population of the flock in a particular house. This range is required to ensure: that all prospective females or hens are properly fertilized. However, the lower the rooster population, the more females or hens the house can contain and support. As long as the roosters fertilize the hens adequately, more hens means more production. Therefore, it is desirable to lower the percentage of roosters without decreasing the fertilization rate for the hens.
As will be recognized by those in the art, lean, agile, energetic roosters are highly active sexually. Roosters of this type are desirable. Overweight, lethargic, uncoordinated roosters are sexually inactive. Roosters of this type are undesirable.
Lethargic roosters often fail to adequately fertilize the hens. Therefore, more obese roosters are required than active, energetic roosters to fertilize the same number of hens. More roosters require more feed and maintenance.
Obese roosters are also more prone to injury. Often, obese roosters will break a leg or injure a hen because of their condition.
In order to prevent rooster obesity, the roosters are normally fed a restricted diet to control their weight. However, the females or hens must be generously fed to stimulate egg production and weight gain. To achieve peak production, food must always be available to the hens. But, since the roosters are bigger and stronger than the hens, the roosters often overpower the hens and steal their food. Several methods of preventing this theft have been tried in the industry.
Prior art devices have attempted to control rooster diets by narrowing the access spaces on the guards or grills surrounding typical chicken feeders. These devices prevent overeating by providing a feeder gap that is too small for a male bird to stick his head through. These devices only function properly when the male head is of a significantly larger size than the female head to prevent his access to the feed. A seperate feeder provides the male feed supply.
Several devices that are not specifically designed to prevent rooster overeating are also known to applicant. The devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,807,360, 546,905 2,398,316, 3,066,651, 2,286,001 and 1,962,395 teach ways for preventing a bird from picking at another bird. Thus, the known prior art fails to provide an effective device for preventing overeating by selected birds.